The Prince Andrew and Jeffrey Epstein Controversy 2010-2023

[Somebody]

Originally Posted by Lumutqueen

I 100% think the interview is the only reason Andrew is stepping back. He shouldn’t have done the interview to start with, he wanted it as his clear the air announcement but he just made things worse.

I have no doubt that Charles and other members of the RF have had a hand in this decision.

I fully agree. All of this is exactly why his new PR guy suggested doing a lengthy written interview in a few months, in that way all of this could have been avoided - as everything that would be written down, could have been fully vetted before publication.

And we'll have to wait and see how long the 'foreseeable future' will last. If it is into Charles reign, I am quite sure he won't be back at all (other than at events that also non-senior full-time working members of the firm attend).

[TortillaChips]

Originally Posted by sophie25

I think this is why we don't officially know yet what Beatrice's wedding plans will be. I think for the past couple of months the Yorks have been watching to see if the Epstein saga would die down enough for a public wedding to be feesable. I think we know the answer to that one now.

Sadly I agree - I loved watching Eugenie's wedding and was very surprised and pleased how much we got to see and had hoped that the same would happen with Beatrice's wedding. Think it's such a shame that the children have to suffer for what their parents have done.

I know this is completely a cloud cuckoo land scenario but maybe The Prince of Wales could step in like he did for the Sussex wedding

[Somebody]

Beatrice still has a father; and there is no reason he should not fulfill that role on his daughter's wedding. He resigned from royal duties not from fatherly duties...

[Moonmaiden23]

Originally Posted by Madame Verseau

I think a come to Jesus meeting happened at Buckingham Palace with Andrew, the queen, Charles (via Skype ?) and government officials. The queen and Charles came for Andrew for dragging the House of Windsor through the mud; the government for potentially damaging diplomatic relations with the U.S. and France over this mess. Andrew's promise to cooperate - until he is on American and French soils speaking to their prosecutors it's an empty promise.

It's still early to tell if the BRF can come back from this. This is not a run of the mill cheating scandal. The investigations will go on.

I've been following the BRF since I was about 10...more years than I will admit.

It's not IF they can come back from this...they can and they will.

Bet on it.

[Osipi]

Pride goes before a fall and Andrew was at the edge of a cliff.

To me, its sad to actually watch the downfall of someone mostly through ego, arrogance and sheer stupidity in not seeing oneself clearly. Before signing off and getting some sleep, the last thing I read was an email from a friend that announced that Andrew wants a "do over" interview and wake up to the official announcement that Andrew is stepping out of the public eye for the "foreseeable future". The man, wanting a "do over" wasn't thinking clearly or didn't see his previous interview for the fiasco it was. My first thought was "yeps... good idea Andrew. Get Piers Morgan this time That's the ticket". This tells me that someone grabbed the reins and *told* Andrew what was to happen next. Enough is enough.

I feel for Andrew at this time but cannot excuse what has gotten him to this point. This is without even throwing in what he may have actually *done* in his relationship with Epstein and Maxwell. That's a totally different kettle of fish to me now and is separate from my opinion of Andrew as a public figure, a member of the British Royal Family and even as a man.

As more and more organizations and charities were assessing their involvement and withdrawing their support of Andrew's incentives, that was the handwriting on the wall that Andrew and his behavior and demeanor are found wanting and questionable. Its not a "witch hunt" when people see a man's true colors and want nothing to do with him.

I would also think that perhaps Amanda Thirsk is clearing out her desk as she's become redundant to Andrew. This would also mean that Pitch@Palace is being dismantled (if there is actually anything left to dismantle). I feel for the many people that Pitch@Palace could have sincerely helped get ahead in the world and now will lose that opportunity.

Will Andrew talk to the investigators? I have no idea but the wording in the "official statement" do not ring true to me as coming from Andrew's mouth. Someone has carefully worded that for him. If he had felt any kind of remorse, guilt or sympathy for the victims of Epstein's perversions, it would have shone through in the first interview. It didn't.

I still believe Andrew should have stayed silent and thought the bumbling idiot, egocentric and arrogant prince by popular opinion than to open his mouth and actually remove all doubt about his character and the person he really is.

Maybe Andrew can go and lay low for a while with his friend Ghislaine Maxwell. I'm sure she'd appreciate his company.

Originally Posted by Moonmaiden23

I've been following the BRF since I was about 10...more years than I will admit.

It's not IF they can come back from this...they can and they will.

Bet on it.

The "Firm" and the monarchy has survived much worse than an arrogant prince with a high opinion of himself. None of what Andrew has done (or not done) damages the perception I hold of the Queen and her "Firm" and monarchy. My heart does go out to her as she probably has the worse kind of heartbreak seeing her second son go through all this. I'm willing to bet that it could be said that the Queen has "all the right stuff" and has done the right thing both as a Queen and as a mother.

[ACO]

Originally Posted by Somebody

Beatrice still has a father; and their is no reason he should not fulfil that role on his daughter's wedding. He resigned from royal duties not from fatherly duties...

Agreed. Her wedding will go one. The only difference will be how public it will be. I seriously doubt she will get what Eugenie got but we shall see.

Back to Andrew. This is from Max Foster.

Royal source: The Duke of York took the decision to step back from public duties following discussion with The Queen, Prince of Wales and others. The source says the decision is for the best - nothing is more important to any of the family than the institution itself.

I think most suspected something like this likely occurred.

[carlota]

unexpected move the 'temporary resignation', yet not quite. some months go the palace said that “Any suggestion of impropriety with underage minors is categorically untrue”. this resignation by andrew seems to change the picture 180 degrees. why would that happen?

as awkward as the interview was, i have to admit a part of me still believes andrew. virginia roberts said that 'Ghislaine tells me in the car that I have to do what I do for Jeffrey for Prince Andrew'. would andrew, in his right mind knowing who he is, have gotten into a situation of forcing a girl to have sex with him? it sounds like a totally dumb thing to do for someone as known as andrew.

on the other hand, it is obvious that jeffrey was involved in shady business - otherwise he wouldn't have committed suicide. he knew what was coming his way. so i do not question that virginia may have been trafficked to others given her involvement with jeffrey. but a part of me doubts whether andrew would have been that dumb as to get involved in such shady activities. maybe he simply thought virginia liked him and wasn't told the full story about her? i cannot explain this otherwise. it seems like an extremely dumb thing to do.

i wonder how long his 'hiatus' will be for, as it sounded in the press note that this was a temporary thing. wonder if that is just a polite way to phrase this and whether effectively it means permanent removal from court. it may well be a temporary thing - let's not forget that in 2011, andrew quit his role as UK trade envoy after the fallout from the Central Park photos.

i can see a smaller, more intimate wedding for beatrice in light of this.

[rmay286]

Originally Posted by ACO

Agreed. Her wedding will go one. The only difference will be how public it will be. I seriously doubt she will get what Eugenie got but we shall see.

It is a shame for Beatrice that this scandal happened, especially happened when it did. It means that one daughter gets the public, "royal" wedding that the older daughter might never get.

Now anything to do with Beatrice's wedding and wedding planning will be tinged with commentary about Andrew's troubles...even though he has stepped down.

I hope Beatrice has a happy wedding day anyway, but it's hard to see how she will have as public a wedding as Eugenie.

[Muhler]

Originally Posted by ACO

Agreed. Her wedding will go one. The only difference will be how public it will be. I seriously doubt she will get what Eugenie got but we shall see.

Back to Andrew. This is from Max Foster.

Royal source: The Duke of York took the decision to step back from public duties following discussion with The Queen, Prince of Wales and others. The source says the decision is for the best - nothing is more important to any of the family than the institution itself.

I think most suspected something like this likely occurred.

Hardly surprising.

Of course QEII would have been involved in such a drastic step and Charles too considering his position.
Either okaying a decision Andrew made.
Or telling him to "go home and tend to his garden."

And naturally other members of the BRF will support this decision. There is nothing else they can do in the circumstances.
What will be interesting is what other senior members of the BRF will say, and how...
If they all stick to a standard reply and say nothing else, that suggest to me that there has been a major family-tam-tam, where the guidelines were laid out (read: dictated) for the more junior members of the BRF.
However if someone utters something that deviate just a little from this, then it may be an indication as to whether this is an attempt of a temporary damage control or whether Andrew is put on grass for good.

But I agree with another poster: The BRF will survive this. This is merely one family member making a poor spectacle of himself, not the BRF as a whole. That has happened before and it will happen again.
A major crisis was the aftermath of Diana's death.
This is just an irritant that will eventually pass once Andrew is out of sight and out of mind.

[Curryong]

I think this had to be done once charity sponsors and others involved with Andrew's public life began expressing reservations about working with Andrew. I tend to think he was pushed, rather than took this decision himself for the sake of the Firm, and hope this is permanent. Don't want to see Andrew come sliding back in five or six months.

[Tatiana Maria]

Originally Posted by Muhler

And naturally other members of the BRF will support this decision. There is nothing else they can do in the circumstances.

I thought it was noteworthy, and perhaps unintentionally revealing, that the Duke of York said in the BBC interview that while "the wider family couldn't be more supportive" of him (in 2015), his "immediate family" were "at a loss".

Here is the full transcript of the Newsnight interview:

https://www.express.co.uk/news/royal...ull-transcript

[Osipi]

Originally Posted by Curryong

I think this had to be done once charity sponsors and others involved with Andrew's public life began expressing reservations about working with Andrew. I tend to think he was pushed, rather than took this decision himself for the sake of the Firm, and hope this is permanent. Don't want to see Andrew come sliding back in five or six months.

The question remains though of what Andrew will have to return to after all this. As Pitch@Palace was solely Andrew's and as his press secretary, Amanda Thirsk, was the director of Pitch@Palace Global, I expect that incentive to be dismantled as that actually, was the meat and potatoes of Andrew's public role. Its a shame.

With Andrew "slinking off" away from public duties and responsibilities, I'm wondering now if any of his "honorary" military roles are going to be pulled away from him. Or will Andrew still participate in things military?

[wyevale]

more and more organizations and charities were assessing their involvement and withdrawing their support of Andrew's incentives

Frankly, I have little time for these woke businesses cutting ties with his charities. Most of them are up to their necks in mire [eg China and other despotic, human rights abusing nations].

Extraordinary hypocrisy.

[Denville]

Is he implying that his own family, daugters and ex wife.. were not able to believe he would have done this??

[rmay286]

Originally Posted by Denville

Is he implying that his own family, daugters and ex wife.. were not able to believe he would have done this??

The way he said it made it sound as though the immediate family had questions, but his extended family was supportive.

[Jacknch]

From BBC News:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-50496539

This is the right course of action to take and frankly the only course of action that I think is appropriate. I hope it is indefinite rather than temporary.

[Denville]

Originally Posted by rmay286

The way he said it made it sound as though the immediate family had questions, but his extended family was supportive.

doesn't seem to make a lot of sense. I think he's trying to imply that the wider RF were all supportive because they simply would not believe he had done anything wrong.. (which of course he thinks he hasn't) and his own closer family were surprised and asking questions.. because they couldn't believe that he'd do anything wrong either..

[camelot23ca]

Someone finally made the right decision and it’s too bad whoever wrote or edited the statement didn’t spend time prepping Andrew before the interview because the content and tone are spot on. If he’d sounded like that during the interview he may have had a chance of salvaging some sort of official career within the BRF.

I feel bad for Beatrice but she’s an adult and, if a choice needed to be made, I’m sure the most important thing would be to have her father at her wedding. If the venue or scale of the wedding needs to be changed I’m sure the family, including the Queen and DoE, will find ways to make up for it.

In terms of the BRF surviving this - I think now that Andrew is keeping a low profile it will be business as usual for the BRF and the public will move on. Even in the weeks and months following Diana’s death the institution itself was never at risk.

[suztav]

JMHO -- I think Andrew will remarry Sarah and attempt to rebuild his image as family man with a loving wife and devoted daughters. There is certainly truth on which to build -- despite this situation, he appears to have been an extremely supportive and devoted ex-husband and a wonderful father.

We all knew that Charles is trying to "shrink" the family. Frankly, he and Cams are in their 70s and there will be a lot of roles/patronages for William and Catherine to assume once the Anne, Andrew, and Edward (probably, to some extent, Harry and Meghan) are demoted. Given the shear size and scope of Great Britain, I don't see how William and Catherine manage it on their own.

JMHO

[ACO]

Per ITV's Chris Ship

Prince Andrew met the Queen today

-He'll be out of the public eye for some time
-Patronages to be mothballed
-Prince of Wales consulted in New Zealand
-Will take no money from Sovereign Grant
-Won’t return until Epstein case closed and Duke’s name cleared

https://www.itv.com/news/2019-11-20/...for-some-time/